Patricia Arquette, who recently won an Oscar for her performance in “Boyhood,” is now saddled with one of those law enforcement TV roles that requires tension-building in a conservative business suit: either staring at a video monitor looking concerned, talking on a cellphone looking concerned, or hustling in the field while wearing an FBI bullet-proof vest, looking extra concerned.

In “CSI: Cyber” premiering March 4 on CBS (9 p.m. locally on KCNC), she plays Special Agent Avery Ryan, a tough woman whose life and career were disrupted by a hacker some years ago, now in charge of chasing cyber criminals. The first case concerns kidnappings via baby monitor technology and she’s concerned! Always thinking one step ahead, magically able to connect theoretical dots, surrounded by talented people who likewise thrill to solving puzzles and outwitting bad guys. Always just another “CSI” spinoff.

Obviously the “CSI” brand is terrifically successful and cloning another version, laden with computer lingo and big data, is probably a smart move. With James Van der Beek (Dawson!) doing the macho running, diving, throwing work, and Peter MacNicol doing his worry-wart thing, Arquette is free to stare into the middle distance, mulling.

As Avery (Arquette) announces at the end of the first hour, upon closing a case, she likes to go somewhere special to think, and soulfully stare, pondering her personal hacking case that will thread through the episodes. It’s all too familiar — and a waste of an Academy Award winner.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.